Five things we loved from our cup win at Doncaster

First-team

11 Feb 2025

Crystal Palace put in a professional display to see off Doncaster Rovers in round four of the FA Cup – and here are five things from Monday night we're still celebrating...

Your magnificent support on the road

Despite the draw sending Palace up to South Yorkshire on a Monday night - with no trains back to London after full-time - the away section was loud and proud throughout the 90 minutes on a freezing cold evening.

"The support was outstanding," said manager Oliver Glasner after the win. "Everyone who watched this game deserves great credit, it was cold, windy, rainy - our fans travelled several hours north to get here and will struggle to get back in the evening.

"Thank you very much for this amazing support again."

The return of Matheus França

It may have only been for a brief cameo, but there was a special moment as the game headed towards added-on time with Matheus França getting back on a football field after his lengthy spell on the sidelines.

Originally, França looked set to feature for the under-21s this weekend, but a change of plans saw him replace Daichi Kamada in the closing stages. As you would expect, he received a wonderful reception from the travelling Eagles, which was fully deserved.

A moment of class from Justin Devenny

On a tricky pitch in tough conditions, playing beautiful football was never going to be an easy task on Monday night.

Yet Palace still managed to provide a moment of real quality ten minutes after the break to take the game away from Doncaster.

Breaking-up play in the middle, Will Hughes strode forward and played a superb ball into the path of Justin Devenny. His first-time chipped finish was nothing short of glorious.

The celebrations in front of the Palace supporters matched the goal. A moment that made the long trip north more than worthwhile.

By scoring, Devenny became our youngest FA Cup goalscorer since Michael Olise scored against Hartlepool United back in February 2022.

Ben Chilwell's Eagles debut

On a chilly night in Doncaster, what better venue for Chilwell to make his Palace bow following last week's deadline day loan move from Chelsea.

Considering he last played a senior match in September, you could forgive our latest addition for needing some time to get up to speed. Instead we saw the reverse, Chilwell showed no signs of ring-rust and his arrival coincided with Palace lifting the tempo after half-time and eventually getting the crucial second goal.

We even saw some glimpses of what the England international is capable of, with two wonderful cross field passes in particular catching the eye.

A mouth-watering tie in the next round...

Palace were guaranteed to be in the hat for the fifth round before a ball was kicked at the Eco-Power stadium, due to the timing of the draw.

But once the win was confirmed, we could all properly look forward to a huge tie in the next stage. Millwall will visit Selhurst Park on the weekend of March 1, with the exact date and kick-off time still be confirmed.

With a place in the quarter-finals at stake, it promises to be a unmissable afternoon in South London. There's plenty of football to be played before then - with Glasner rightly pointing out the teams immediate focus now switches to Everton on Saturday.

But we are allowed to get a little bit excited about this one, right? It is also the first time Palace have reached the last 16 since our run in 2022, when we managed to reach the semi-finals.

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